B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #221

B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #221

I Cor.. 16:9 ‘For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.’

July 30, 2012

Rabbi Jesus – Master Teacher

Memorable Statements

With any great teacher there will be those statements that his students will recall long after the teacher has turned to dust. Of course our Teacher lives, and His Spirit brings to our remembrance what He said. How many pithy, concise, easily remembered statements do you remember? Don’t go to your Bible, but search your mind. What is your list like?

The ‘I am…’s of John’s Gospel – 6:35, 8:12, 10:7, 10:11, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1 – How many can you remember?

One that was impressive for people that is not in the Gospels was “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts. 20:35 This is a clear reminder of how great a teacher He was and is.

When we teach we have the choice of using the concise statements of Scripture or our own. The key is that the memorable statement embodies what the point of the teaching was. Then it becomes a hook upon which a memory can bring back so much more.

Contrast

Our Master uses contrasts to fix in people’s minds the differences, the points on each side of an issue, the clear choice that faces man and more. It is not grey but black and white with our Lord. Politics may be that drifting cloud that is now here and now there. It is not so with Him. There is heaven and there is hell – the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus. There are 99 and 1. There is the Pharisee in all his hypocrisy and the Publican in his humility. Are we so clear, or do people go away scratching their heads and wondering? It could be in the parables mentioned or in real life that He distinguishes clearly and in detail. A teachable moment for contrasts is in a Pharisee’s house. Jesus was invited in. Lk. 7:36-50

Pharisee – a woman of the city who was a sinner

No water from the Pharisee to wash Jesus’ feet – the woman brought an alabaster jar of ointment and wet His feet with her tears and wiped with her hair

No kiss of greeting from the Pharisee – she kisses Jesus’ feet

No anointing of Jesus’ head with oil – she anoints His feet with ointment

In the parable – fifty denarii or five hundred

Black is clear against white. When one is lost and 99 are safe it is clear. We should want to find such contrasts in our daily lives also so that people can remember. There is the day and the night. There is the sun which has light and there is the moon which has no light, but only reflects. What contrasts can you think of? How could they be used to teach a spiritual truth?

Our Lord drew word pictures. Can you? Strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. His teaching was concrete and made more so with contrasts. He sought to move from the earthly to the spiritual. It was no mere mental meandering for Him. It was not a case of words with no real meaning. He was purposeful. Are we?